Partner Funding Process

When you give to United Way of Southern Kentucky, you entrust your hard-earned dollars to an organization that takes this trust very seriously. Community volunteers make sure that designated funds are distributed according to the donor’s wishes and then oversee the allocation of undesignated funds to all programs through community investment committees. These panels conduct annual reviews and closely monitor services.

Who is eligible to apply for funding?

UWSK seeks proposals to implement its Community Impact priority areas and strategies in Education, Income, Health and Safety Net. Organizations that are federally tax exempt, nonprofit, and currently providing, or could successfully implement, quality programs in alignment with one or more of these strategies are encouraged to apply for UWSK funding. For more information about United Way's work in these areas, click here.

Programs that provide services within a best practices framework, that are collaborative and integrated into the fabric of other community Education, Income, Health and Safety Net efforts, that consider the goals, needs and aspirations of the communities they serve, and that are innovative are programs that UWSK seeks to support. Collaborative programs are highly encouraged. Funds are available on an annual basis to support programs for one year.

Are there requirements for receiving United Way funding?

In addition to achieving impact in one of the priority areas/ strategies, UWSK has several operational requirements that must be agreed to in writing and met over the duration of the grant period by organizations receiving support. These requirements can be downloaded here. If an organization cannot agree to meet these requirements it will not be eligible to apply for funding from UWSK. A full description of the Policies and Procedures for Funded Agencies can be downloaded here.

How does an organization apply for funding?

The first step in applying for funding from UWSK is the submission of a Letter of Intent. The Letter of Intent deadline for the 2019/20 funding cycle has passed. Please check back for information on the Letter of Intent deadline for the 2020/21 funding cycle in September 2019.

Letters of Intent are reviewed by a UWSK regional committee. Proposals that demonstrate meaningful impact in one of the priority areas/ strategies will be invited to submit a full Community Impact Grant Application.

2019/20 Funding Application Submission Process

Only organizations that have received official invitation to apply are eligible to submit an application (applications and instructions are available in DOWNLOAD section below). Those that are eligible to apply for funding should read through the Policies and Procedures for Funded Agencies to ensure that they meet all requirements. This document can be downloaded below in the ADDITIONAL DOWNLOADS section.

Organizations seeking funding for multiple programs must submit an application for each program. A regional program providing program services in multiple counties must submit a funding application for each county in which you are requesting funding.

Please download (“copy” or “save as”) this funding application as a PDF document to your own computer from the DOWNLOADS section below. We ask that you name your completed form as the name of your program prior to uploading as part of the application process. For example: If the name of your program is XYZ, the document would be renamed XYZ.pdf.

FUNDING APPLICATIONS (Please download (“copy” or “save as”) this form as a PDF document to your own computer. We ask that you name your completed form as the name of your program prior to uploading as part of the application process. For example: If the name of your program is XYZ, the document would be renamed XYZ.pdf):